Evangelical apologists often say that atheism is a religion; that all of us worship something. Both claims are categorically false, but since when did that ever stop Evangelicals (especially Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis) from lying to advance their agenda?
When you think of a religion, what comes to mind? Denominations, church buildings, holy texts, beliefs, rituals, and clerics, to name a few. None of these things applies to atheism. Atheism is a simple statement about the lack of belief in the existence of deities. Atheists don’t have denominations, texts, rituals, or clerics. There’s no temple we can go to worship the god of atheism. Unlike most religions, atheism has no belief requirements other than a lack of belief in the existence of god.
Google AI answers the question this way:
No, atheism is not a religion; it is the lack of belief in any deities and does not inherently involve a set of tenets, rituals, or a system of worship. While some individuals or groups may label themselves as atheists within a specific philosophical framework or even create non-theistic communities that have some religious-like structures, atheism itself is the absence of a belief that would define a religion.
If atheism is a religion, then abstinence is a sex position. 🙂 Need I say more? If you are an Evangelical who still thinks atheism is a religion, please justify your claim. Preaching and moralizing are not welcome. If you can prove that atheism is a religion, I will change my mind. That said, I am confident, thanks to dealing with countless Evangelicals over the years, that your defense of “atheism is a religion” will not prevail.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Grow up in an Evangelical church and you will likely hear sermons about how wonderful God really is; how he hears and answers prayers; how is knows the very numbers of hairs on our heads and is intimately involved in our lives; how God will never leave us or forsake us; how he will provide our needs. What an a-w-e-s-o-m-e deity, right? However, Evangelicals quickly learn that their pastors’ God cheers don’t match reality. Most, if not all, prayers go unanswered, and God is largely distant or absent. Evangelicals say God is ever-present in their lives, yet when asked for evidence for their claims, we quickly learn that their “evidence” is actually personal feelings and opinions.
Let me be clear, I am not opposed to people finding religion beneficial. Believe what you want. However, when people make empirical claims about God doing this or that, they should expect to be challenged by non-believers. Evangelicals have made all sorts of supernatural claims over the years, yet when asked to prove their assertions, believers typically appeal to personal experiences or faith — neither of which provides an evidentiary basis to justify their claims.
Many preachers know they are selling fool’s gold to their flocks, so they develop theological explanations to explain why God seems largely absent from their lives. Remember, “feeling” God’s presence is very different from actually KNOWING God is present. Preachers explain to their congregations that trials, suffering, hunger, starvation, job loss, cancer, divorce, and accidents, to name a few, are trials and tests from God to prepare us for life after death. All of life’s experiences are just pretexts for what’s really important: an eternity in Heaven singing praises night and day to the Christian God. Does that really sound like “Heaven” to you? Not to me. Even if I were a Christian, I don’t relish the thought of spending the next million years repetitively praising a deity who made my life on Earth a living Hell (physically). Now, if there’s a cash bar, rock concerts, and dancing, I might change my mind, but as it now stands, Heaven doesn’t sound appealing to me. Throw in strippers, cocaine, and an endless buffet, I could be persuaded — maybe — to change my mind.
What are we to make of a deity who uses pain, suffering, and loss to see whether people “really” worship him and are worthy to live in God’s eternal kingdom after death? Imagine for a moment, one of your adult children was standing on your front porch. He stopped by to have dinner, only to find out that before he could enter, he must prove their worthiness to sit at your table. To prove his worthiness, he must spend the rest of his life suffering from all sorts of physical maladies. Is this what most of us would do? Of course not. Even Jesus said the father freely, openly welcomed the prodigal son home. The father didn’t demand more suffering from his son before slaughtering the fatted calf and throwing a party for his long-lost son. Yet, the Christian God is indifferent to the suffering of the human race, including people who daily pray to him and spend Sundays praising his name. I pastored scores of good Christian people over the years; people who greatly suffered in this life before they died. They pleaded with God — if it was his will — to deliver them from their afflictions, yet their fervent, tear-filled prayers went unanswered. In the midst of darkness, God was about as helpful to them as a flashlight without batteries. To the person, these folks died believing God was going to reward them for their suffering and loss while alive. They, of course, couldn’t know this, but putting their faith in a God who promised to be with them, to the person they believed that a payout awaited them after death,
I don’t know about you, but punishment before reward is perverse, not something thoughtful people would do. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Arthur “A.J.” Bass, former worship leader at New Hope Christian Church in Wylie, Texas, and a substitute school teacher, stands accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a child.
A man who was prominent in both Wylie churches and schools has been arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of a child.
He’s a former substitute teacher in the Wylie Independent School District and a former worship pastor at a local church.
Wylie ISD said that none of its students have come forward with any allegations against this former substitute teacher so far.
But the district confirms that for two years, he worked as a substitute at multiple schools, including Achieve Academy, which is for suspended and expelled students.
Authorities said his name is Arthur Bass. But to those who know him, he’s A.J.
The 55-year-old was arrested last week for the alleged continuous sexual abuse of a child.
In a statement, Wylie police said the case came together quickly and that “the arrest stems from an investigation that began on October 1.”
Wylie PD said it received information of a “child making an outcry to her mother.”
Wylie ISD said Bass was terminated from his job as a substitute teacher immediately after authorities were informed by police about the arrest.
In a statement to parents, the district said it was important to share “that this situation did not occur on a Wylie ISD campus, nor did it involve a student the substitute met through our schools.”
The district said Bass began working as a substitute in 2023, with his last assignment in April 2025.
“He has not served in our schools this school year,” Wylie ISD said in its statement to parents. “During his time with us, he worked at multiple campuses across the district, and we received no complaints regarding his conduct.”
On his social media profiles, Bass said he is a worship pastor at New Hope Christian Church in Wylie, which confirmed to CBS News Texas that he was, from 2013 until Bass left the church in February 2023.
In a statement to its congregation, the church said, “The charges are terrible and disconcerting to say the least.”
The church did not say whether the accuser had any connection to the church.
But the school district is urging parents to come forward if they have any information that could help Wylie Police with its ongoing investigation.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
“The more you lean into every comma that God has created you to be, the more commas you will visibly see in your bank account.”
— Pastor Adrian Davis
Adrian Davis, pastor of All Nations Worship Assembly in Huntsville, Alabama, stands accused of wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
Federal court records show that the former pastor of a Huntsville church is facing charges for wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
Adrian Davis was the lead pastor at All Nations Worship Assembly and also served as a marketing consultant for the church. According to court records, he received a salary and parsonage as compensation.
Davis is accused of using ANWA funds for his personal benefit beginning in or around 2018.
The court documents say Davis used funds to pay his mother’s mortgage, buy vehicles like an Audi A7 and a 2016 GMC Yukon, as well as pay off over $268,000 on his personal credit cards, which were used to make purchases from luxury stores like Louis Vuitton, Flight Club, a shoe store in New York, and other stores over the course of 2019 and 2020.
The documents state that Davis wired $13,663 from the ANWA bank account to pay off his personal credit card in October 2020.
Federal records also say Davis filed a tax return in 2021, falsely claiming he received $138,621 when he received total income in excess of that.
Davis agreed to plead guilty to both charges, court records show. As part of his plea agreement, he would be required to pay restitution to All Nations Worship Assembly and the Internal Revenue Service.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
I recently received the following comment from an Evangelical man named D.E. Wilson (all spelling, grammar, punctuation, and irrationality in the original).
My question is, if your an apostate and don’t believe in God and turned atheist I presume your unconcerned about Hebrews 9:27, you better hope your HUMAN MIND HAS JUDGED CORRECTLY.
Yes, I am unconcerned about anything the Bible says. It’s just a book, no different from the Harry Potter books. For readers not familiar with Hebrews 9:27, it says: “And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment.” Wilson wants me to know that I have an appointment with death, and after drawing my last breath, I will be judged by God. And as he stated later, if I refuse to repent and get saved, I will burn in Hell forever. However, since I think the Bible has no relevance for today, I couldn’t care less if someone threatens me with hellfire and brimstone. The only person I fear is my partner, Polly, when she is holding a Lodge cast iron 12” skillet over my head.
And let me add, judgment doesn’t immediately happen after death. Most Evangelicals have no idea about what the Bible says about death and judgment. Even preachers often make unsupportable claims about death and the afterlife. According to Christian orthodoxy, after we die, we end up in the grave, awaiting the resurrection of the dead (just and unjust). After the general resurrection, we will be judged by God and sent to Heaven or Hell. Sorry, Granny ain’t running around Heaven. She’s dead, in the grave, awaiting the resurrection. THEN, she will be judged. (A good read on this subject is Dr. N.T. Wright’s book, “Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.”
Wilson warns me in ALL caps: “You better hope your HUMAN MIND HAS JUDGED CORRECTLY.” I am confident that I have skeptically and rationally judged the central claims of Christianity and found them wanting. I’m betting Wilson has not done the same.
Now I’d like to introduce you to something new, you were never saved,
LOL! Something new? Really? I have been told by more pontificating Evangelicals than I can count that I never was a Christian. This claim is patently untrue. Have you noticed that when Evangelicals claim I never was a Christian, they NEVER, EVER present any evidence for their claim. And I mean none. They can’t wrap their minds around my story, so, with a wave of their hands, they dismiss my story out of hand. This is lazy thinking, to say the least.
I’ve been blogging for eighteen years; thousands of posts and millions of readers. In all that time, only one person who (allegedly) has publicly said that they KNEW I wasn’t a Christian. This person said she knew me in the late 70s and 80s, but refused to give her name. One person, of doubtful reputation. That’s it. If I was such a fake Christian, how is it that no one, including my colleagues in the ministry, sensed I was a fraud? Thousands of people personally knew me or heard me preach, yet to the person they thought I was a devoted, Holy Spirit-filled preacher.
Jesus says His people are given to Him by God and He’s lost none. Maybe the Holy Spirit will never save or draw you to Christ, because unless you’re drawn by God you cannot come to Him when you like. That’s one of the IFB mistakes that you can come to Christ without the drawing of The Holy Spirit.
First, I left the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) TWENTY FUCKING YEARS before I deconverted.
Second, I never, NOT ONE TIME, believed or preached that someone can come to Christ without the drawing of the Holy Spirit. (No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. John 6:44) Even after I left the IFB church movement, I still believed that the drawing of the Spirit (among other things) was required for salvation.
Wilson, as many Evangelicals do, judges me by his own personal experiences. Thus, he had a bad experience with the IFB church movement, and judges me by what he experienced in the past. This is a bad way to judge anything, especially religion.
Sometimes, my critics pick a singular point on my timeline, and judge me from that point in my life. This ALWAYS leads to bad conclusions. I evolved over the years politically, socially, and theologically. This should be considered a sign of growth and maturity, but many Evangelicals think if you theologically change your mind you are sinful or you have taken the first step down the path of apostasy. I was never afraid to change my mind if my studies showed me I was wrong. Over the years, I changed my mind about all sorts of theological positions. My core beliefs — think Nicene Creed — never changed, but my soteriology, eschatology, ecclesiology, and pneumatology evolved, sometimes dramatically.
I know I worked the bus ministry for years and had hundreds of professions and very few pocessors of a new nature, were you one of the thousands that prayed without seeing yourself as God sees you, a lost ungodly sinner who deserves hell and under conviction who broke down with a repentant heart crying out to God for forgiveness.
I was a true-blue Christian; a devoted, committed follower of Jesus. Yes, I saw myself as God saw me: an ungodly sinner deserving Hell. At the age of fifteen, I repented of my sins and cried out to God for forgiveness. There is literally NO evidence from that time that suggests otherwise. If you have it, Wilson, cough it up.
I did, and instantly I knew I was born again,
So did I. And I professed my newfound faith to my church, my family, and my friends. And when I went to school, I professed my faith to my teachers and classmates. And two weeks later, I told my church that God was calling me to preach. A few weeks later, I preached my first sermon.
To Wilson I say, let’s compare our relative Christian lives. I am confident that my life will measure up to yours. In fact, I’m confident I was likely more committed to following Christ than you are, and as an atheist, I’m a better Christian than many of the Evangelicals I know. Shall we whip out our proverbial gospel dicks and see who was a bigger/better Christian? I am game, if you are.
and by FAITH I became a new creature and it completely changed my life.
The same goes for me. Now what, Wilson?
There is hope but it’s Gods doing all of Grace and none of man. He even gives us our Faith.
And I NEVER, EVER, NOT ONE TIME, said otherwise. You seem not to know or have forgotten that I was a Calvinist. Every Calvinist I know would say, “[Salvation] Gods doing all of Grace and none of man. He even gives us our Faith.”
Try harder, Wilson, try harder. This post is your opportunity to challenge me and provide evidence for your claims.
Saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Yesterday, I read an article about vertical and horizontal morality; that most Evangelicals practice vertical morality. I found this to be the best explanation for the bad behavior we see from Evangelicals. How do we explain their overwhelming support of Donald Trump? How do we explain trolls such as Revival Fires, Dr David Tee, Jaisen, and John, to name a few? These under overpass dwellers have all the right beliefs, but treat people they disagree with like shit. Why? They have vertical morality. The problem, of course, is that Jesus primarily taught his followers horizontal morality.
For many Americans, the gap between Christian teachings and MAGA politics is baffling. How can people profess faith in Jesus ― who preached love, mercy and care for the oppressed ― while supporting policies that punish immigrants, demonize LGBTQ people and glorify cruelty?
The key to understanding this apparent contradiction might lie in something called “vertical morality.”
This ethical framework measures righteousness not by goodness to others, but by something more simplistic. Below, Christian advocates and former fundamentalists break down what vertical morality means and how it explains our political landscape today.
….
“Vertical morality teaches that authority, power and a moral code of right and wrong, or acceptable and unacceptable, come from ‘above’ ― an external superior who designates rules, systems and tenets that must be obeyed by those beneath,” said Tia Levings, a former Christian fundamentalist and author of “A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy.”
In the context of religion, the superior is God. In politics, it might be an authoritarian dictator. In a cult, it would be the controlling leader. Whatever the circumstances, the idea is that behaviors are only right or wrong based on what the figure in power says.
“Vertical morality in Christianity is the idea that our ethics and behaviors have a duty to please God alone. We get our morals from God and we must obey him, furthering the will of God no matter the cost,” said April Ajoy, author of “Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith.”
….
“Vertical morality is just how I describe what’s called ‘divine command theory’ in metaethics,” she said. “I’m a teacher, so I’m always looking for ways to make complicated concepts a little more simple. It’s basically the idea that morality comes from authority above, which is what I was taught when I was raised within conservative Christianity.” [Rachel Klinger King]
Vertical morality stands in contrast to the concept of horizontal morality, another term Klinger Cain has broken down in her videos.
“Horizontal morality prioritizes the well-being of our neighbors, communities and personal relationships,” Ajoy explained. “We act in ways that cause the least amount of harm to those around us, regardless of beliefs. Someone with vertical morality may help someone in need because they believe that’s what God wants them to do, versus someone with horizontal morality may help that same person for the benefit of the person that needs help.”
Rather than unquestioning obedience and superficial optics, this approach focuses on genuine empathy, compassion, and love toward others, recognizing the actual effects our actions have on people.
….
In Matthew 25, Jesus describes people who fed and clothed those in need, who welcomed the stranger, who took care of the sick and visited those in prison,” she noted. “He then says, ‘What you did for the least of these, you did for me.’ He equates loving our neighbors (horizontal morality) with loving Christ (vertical morality).” [April Ajoy]
….
“Evangelicals are taught that all morality comes from God and therefore true goodness can only be spread by obeying God, even if it harms people around us,” Ajoy said. “This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if pleasing God manifests by following the teachings of Jesus ― loving our neighbors, loving our enemies, promoting peace and taking care of the poor, the widow, the immigrant and standing up for the marginalized. It becomes dangerous when Christians weaponize this vertical morality for power, which is exactly what we’re seeing with the Christian nationalism in the Trump administration.” [April Ajoy]
“What’s interesting is that Jesus taught a compassionate, flexible, grace-filled view of what it means to live a life loving God,” Levings noted. “But today’s conservative Christianity is less influenced by Jesus and more by the Old Testament and Paul.”
She pointed to theonomy, the belief that Old Testament laws should be applied to modern society, as an influence on Christian nationalist politics.
ummarizing the role of vertical morality in the Old Testament, Klinger Cain highlighted the story of Abraham, who was commended for his willingness to obey God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac, despite the act’s inherent immorality.
“What should happen if you have a horizontal moral system is, you should go, ‘I’m not murdering someone, even if an authority figure has told me to do that,’” she said. “But under vertical morality, that would be a sin because you’re disobeying God.”
Drawing from the most violent and extreme chapters of Biblical history, this approach frames unquestioning obedience as the highest virtue, even when it demands actions that defy compassion or common sense. And what might’ve once been a religious debate has now become a broader cultural conflict thanks to the role of conservative Christians in writing Project 2025 and otherwise shaping public policy.
“The problem with MAGA Christians is that they promote policies that often go against the teachings of Jesus,” Ajoy said. “They justify it by promoting a view of God that is vengeful. They demonize all immigrants as criminals, all queer people as predators, all leftists as violent and all Democrats as satanic ― with no evidence to back these claims. And because they believe in a literal hell and a God-ordained calling to make the nation Christian, they justify cruelty in the name of ‘tough love.’”
Under a vertical moral system, the worst thing you can do is disobey God’s laws, and this perspective has bled into politics as well. Klinger Cain offered the example of the rather callous response to “Alligator Alcatraz” and the extremely punitive treatment of immigrant detainees from MAGA Christians.
“On one side, we’re looking at people who are undocumented, so yes, they’ve broken a rule. But for the most part, there are no victims ― so why is our government being so harsh?” she said. “But the other side, with this fundamental Christian worldview, sees every broken rule as deserving a super harsh punishment. You don’t have to be a murderer or a rapist to go to hell. Every broken rule leads to hell ― even just taking a bite of an apple cursed all of humanity.”
This religious viewpoint desensitizes people, so inhumane immigrant detention feels fine and deserved. Klinger Cain added that, for people with this perspective, the only way to escape the fate of hell is not through good actions but simply by being on the right God-ordained MAGA team.
“Vertical morality has caused white conservative, MAGA-aligned Christianity to completely abandon the core of Christ’s teachings because their focus is on self-interest and perceived moral purity,” Hale said. “To them, they are Christians and haven’t abandoned the faith at all, but their framework measures righteousness in a way that can excuse behaviors that the general public knows and sees aren’t Christlike at all.”
This system also demonizes empathy. Some conservative authors have even written books describing empathy as sinful or “toxic.”
“If Abraham had empathized too much with his son and chosen not to kill him, then that empathy would have been a sin,” Klinger Cain said. “We’ve seen this concept play out in Christianity with pastors telling parents not to allow their children to be gay, even if it hurts them. The idea is don’t allow your empathy to support sin in this way.”
….
“Vertical morality feels safe in chaotic times, when ‘figuring things out’ or ‘learning from past mistakes’ feels daunting,” Levings said. “It’s also easier to comply with when the bottom-dwelling citizens feel like they have little power or agency to resist an authoritarian system. Sometimes, compliance is a matter of survival, and agreeing with it is a necessary means of getting along and staying safe.”
Hale agreed that vertical morality feels easier and less complicated than actually confronting systemic issues and the complexities of social justice.
“It’s easy to measure your faith by private devotion or rules that you think are in the bible, rather than by how you show up in the world,” she said. “The unfortunate part is that it can blind people to injustice and sometimes cause them to justify harmful behavior. When your focus is on individual righteousness rather than collective responsibility, you don’t learn how to show up for others ― you only care about your own journey.”
As a result, Hale added, you risk fostering a society where people aren’t held accountable for harmful actions and can be cruel and exclusionary, as long as they are “good Christians.” Rather than social responsibility, it’s all about personal salvation.
“We’re seeing vertical morality weaponized today in the Trump administration,” Ajoy said. “If they can convince people that they are ‘of God,’ then it doesn’t matter who they hurt in the process. They say Christian things. They quote scripture. But they are wreaking havoc on the very people Jesus calls us to love and care for. It reminds me of another verse in Matthew 15 that says, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’”
“Vertical morality can’t take into consideration modern advancements or needs, evidence of failures, new research and information and human progress in civilization,” she explained. “Those with a vertical structure aren’t inclusive or accepting of other worldviews. Diversity can’t exist because it threatens the high contrast right-wrong rigidity found in fundamentalist authoritarianism.”
— End of Quote —
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Evangelicals often confuse evidence with claims. When pressed on this or that belief, Evangelicals often respond by saying “the Bible says.” However, the Bible is a book of claims, not evidence. When skeptics ask for evidence for a particular assertion, Evangelicals often quote Bible verses, thinking that, in doing so, they have provided evidence for their claims. They have done no such thing.
Here is some of the claims Evangelicals make;
The Bible is the very words of God
The Bible is without error
The Bible is infallible
God is a triune being
Jesus is the eternal Son of God
Jesus was born of a virgin
Jesus worked miracles, including raising the dead and turning water into wine.
Jesus resurrected from the dead
Jesus ascended to Heaven
Christianity is true, and all other religions are false
All of these statements are claims, not evidence. Just because Evangelicals can “prove” their assertions with prooftexts, this is not the same as supporting a claim with evidence. Certainly, the Bible can be used as a historical source when warranted, but what the Bible says alone is not sufficient to justify Evangelical claims. Just because the Bible says Jesus was born of a virgin doesn’t mean he was. The same goes for every claim made with prooftexts. For skeptics, words from a book are not sufficient evidence for supernatural claims. If I said Harry Potter is a real person and he can fly, people would rightly ask me for evidence for my claim. If I said, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban proves Harry is a real person and he can fly, would you believe me? Of course not. So it is with supernatural claims. Unfortunately, many Evangelicals confuse claims with evidence. If Evangelical apologists can’t provide sufficient evidence for their claims, there’s no reason to listen to them.
I am sure some Evangelical commenters will appeal to faith as justification for their claims. That’s fine, but faith will not fly with me and many of the readers of this blog. Faith is the last refuge for believers. It is a safe place where reason, rationality, and evidence are optional. It is the last refuge for believers hiding from the evil philosophies of the world. With faith, anything is possible.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
According to the Bible, God created the universe and everything in it. From this basic premise, Christian thinking goes off in all sorts of directions. Generally speaking, Christians believe one of the following about the creation of the universe:
Young Earth Creationism: God created the universe in six literal twenty-four-hour days, 6,028 years ago.
Theistic Evolution: God created the universe by and through the process of evolution, leaving room for God to personally intervene in human history when needed.
Old Earth Creationism: God created the universe with the appearance of old age.
Yesterday, I listened to a podcast featuring an old-earth creationist trying to defend his beliefs. Things did not go well for him. Science aside, old-earth creationism posits that God deliberately deceived humanity by creating the universe with the appearance of age. Thus, they can accept what science says about the age of the universe while at the same time claiming God created everything.
In other words, God lied to us. The Earth “looks” old, but it’s not. God is just playing a trick on us. If the Earth is 6,028 years old, why do various testing methods say differently? Simple, God is playing a game with us. He’s a trickster, telling us a painting is thousands of years old, when it is, in fact, two years old.
Why would God do this? What is his endgame? Why would he lie to us? You would think that God would want us to have accurate information about creation and the age of the earth/universe. When science says the universe is billions of years old, this is a factual claim, old-earth creationists say, but — with a wink — they confidently say, “God created the universe with apparent age.” This, of course, is a faith claim.
Evangelicalism has nothing to offer when it comes to science. Their core beliefs about the universe are directly contrary to what science says about the matter. Even the theistic evolutionist is inserting God where none is needed. Science doesn’t have all the answers, but it is superior to the manic rants of preachers about the literal interpretation of Genesis 1-3.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Recently, a Christian man named Marlin had this to say about me:
I dislike Dennis Corle and I know Jack Hyles was evil. But you’re using them as part of your excuse as to why you’re no longer Christian, when it’s pretty clear you never were a believer.
As is my custom, I sent Marlin a link to my response.
Marlin replied:
You’re an old faggot who will burn even hotter for being a scoffer
Marlin reveals that he is either still an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist or his thinking and behavior are deeply influenced by IFB beliefs. By far, the nastiest people I’ve interacted with on this site are IFB Christians.
One tactic often used by IFB Christians is to call your opponent a faggot, queer, gay, or homosexual. This has nothing to do with sexuality. The goal is to marginalize and defame, and by doing so, this allows them to dismiss my story out of hand.
Marlin goes on to say that I am a “scoffer,” and I will suffer greater punishment in Hell for my unbelief. Of course, Marlin provides no evidence for his claim. He doesn’t address the fact that, according to many Independent Baptists, I am still a Christian. Once saved, always saved, right? He also doesn’t address the fact that followers of Jesus can and do deconvert.
When confronted with the awfulness of eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire, many Evangelicals will say that it is not up to them who ends up in Hell. They genuinely feel bad that their beliefs require the eternal punishment of their family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Marlin, evidently, has no such qualms. No, in his mind, I never was a Christian, and I will suffer eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire for my unrepentant unbelief. He KNOWS I am going to fry forever. Maybe Marlin is God in drag?
Marlin then left the following comment:
Intellectual reasons? You left Christianity after your neurological problems left you wheelchair-bound. You’re a sad, bitter old man. You were never a Christian because your idol is yourself. You loved your ability to walk and yourself more than the Lord, then claim your superior intellect evolved you beyond the things of God.
In my first response to him, I told Marlin that he was wrong about the reason I left Christianity; that I primarily deconverted for intellectual reasons. Marlin rejects my claim, saying that I “left Christianity after your neurological problems left you wheelchair-bound.” Is there any truth to his claim? Of course not. Marlin has constructed a strawman of me in his mind. Instead of critiquing my life according to what I have written, Marlin uses the strawman Bruce instead. This, of course, leads to faulty conclusions.
I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia twelve years before I deconverted. I didn’t start regularly using a wheelchair until 2009 — after I deconverted. It wasn’t until 2022 that I started using a wheelchair (or walker) anytime I am forced to walk more than short distances. I typically use a cane for short distances, a walker for moderate distances, and a wheelchair for long distances or times when I am required to sit for long periods of time.
As everyone but Marlin can see, my disability began when I was still a Christian and a pastor. My health problems played little to no part in my deconversion. I have never blamed “God” for my physical struggles. Life is what it is, and I accept the fact that chronic pain and suffering are as much a part of my life as breathing.
Marlin goes on to say that I am a sad, bitter man. Marlin provides no evidence for his claim. He doesn’t know me, so on what basis does he conclude that I am sad and bitter? I am neither, though, at times, my pain levels reach #10 on the chart, and I can and do feel sad. Who wouldn’t want relief from chronic pain and suffering?
Marlin again claims I was never a Christian. He then adds that I worship myself, saying, “You loved your ability to walk and yourself more than the Lord, then claim your superior intellect evolved you beyond the things of God.”
Honestly, it is hard to tell what Marlin means here. He seems to say that I loved the ability to walk more than I loved God. How did Marlin come to such a faulty conclusion? There’s nothing in my story that remotely suggests I worshipped the man, myth, and legend Jesus Christ. No, as my therapist would tell Marlin if asked, I think poorly of myself, struggling to maintain a healthy self-esteem.
As far as my intellect is concerned, what else should I use to determine my beliefs and make decisions? I assume Marlin does the same. Oh, wait, with one big difference. His intellect is sotted with Christian dogma and practices. They color every judgment he makes. This, of course, can be true of all of us. Our presuppositions can and do lead to faulty conclusions. That’s why I do my best to skeptically and rationally make decisions without bias from presuppositions. Marlin, on the other hand, thinks his peculiar interpretation of the Protestant Christian Bible is superior to anything I might believe. This, of course, is a common problem when dealing with Evangelical Christians. They are certain that they are “right”; that their beliefs and practices come straight from the triune God himself.
Marlin provides no evidence for any of his claims; just assertions and personal opinions. I challenge him to justify his accusations about me. I am confident that he will not do so because his whole view of me is based on a strawman caricature of me.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Recently, a Christian man named Marlin had this to say about me:
I dislike Dennis Corle and I know Jack Hyles was evil. But you’re using them as part of your excuse as to why you’re no longer Christian, when it’s pretty clear you never were a believer.
Dennis Corle and the late Jack Hyles are big names in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church movement. I have heard both men preach, and Corle held several revivals for me in the 1980s. I assume that Marlin is either a current IFB church member or a former one. Either way, his comment reveals a common IFB trait: making moral judgments without evidence to justify their conclusions. Marlin says it is clear that I was never a “believer,” yet he provides no evidence for his claim. He doesn’t personally know me, so he has no personal experiences with me to base his judgments upon. Further, he doesn’t provide any anecdotal or personal testimony from former congregants or colleagues in the ministry — you know, people who actually knew me — that bolsters his claim about my salvation. Despite not having any evidence to justify his claims, Marlin is cocksure that I was never a Christian.
Marlin suggests that it was people like Dennis Corle and Jack Hyles who played an instrumental part in my deconversion. This claim is patently false. I don’t believe I have ever suggested that these men or other preachers played a part in my loss of faith. I left the IFB church movement in the late 1980s, twenty years before I deconverted. While I was still an Evangelical Christian, I no longer ran in IFB circles.
I have made it clear over the years that I left Christianity for primarily intellectual reasons. Sure, there were emotional factors too, but at the end of the day, I left Christianity because it no longer made any sense to me.
If Marlin thinks otherwise, I suggest he provide evidence for his claims. Or he can admit that his claims are false. Marlin claims to be a Christian. I accept his claim at face value. If someone says they are a Christian, I believe them. Sadly, Evangelicals-turned-atheists are not given the same respect. Marlin KNOWS I never was a follower of Jesus, and this allows him to dismiss my story out of hand. Accepting my story as it causes cognitive dissonance and theological problems, so it is just easier to assert that I was never a Christian.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
